Potato deficit: the root crop popular in Ukraine continues to rise in price. What will the final price be?
19 September 2024 13:43
ANALYSIS
Potato prices in Ukraine are rising significantly. This is stated by both social media users and producers. According to the website of the Ministry of Finance, the average price of potatoes in supermarkets as of September 2024 is UAH 21.83, for new potatoes – UAH 34.90, and for pink potatoes – UAH 29.90. Olga Samoilichenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Potato Producers, explained exclusively for Komersant ukrainskyi what is really happening with the prices of this favourite vegetable for Ukrainians.
According to her, the price of potatoes from the producer is significantly different from the price in a supermarket or market. The latter includes a logistical component, losses incurred by the seller, and his markup.
“Indeed, over the past two weeks, the price has gone up significantly. It has reached UAH 16-19 including VAT. The price increase was caused by several factors. The first factor is the severe drought in Ukraine. From 1 August to 15 September, there was virtually no rainfall, which led to a 20-30% drop in yields. The second factor is that professional potato growers could not dig potatoes due to very dry soil, which led to a shortage of potatoes on the market,”
– said Olga Samoilichenko.
At the same time, the market expert believes that it is currently impossible to predict whether the price will increase in the future, as the current price of potatoes can only be said to be established when the potato digging season is over.
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“Harvesting is affected by the weather. There is no final understanding of whether it will rain in Ukraine, as in Europe, which will interfere with the digging of potatoes, how early the frosts and freezes will come, and whether this will allow us to dig potatoes at all,” she says,
– she says and adds that now the lag in the potato digging schedule is quite significant.
“If in August we predicted a stable price of UAH 10-11, the weather has made very strong adjustments. We believe that the price may be fixed at the current level. There may be a temporary decrease in prices after the western regions start digging potatoes en masse after the rains,”
– says the executive director of the Ukrainian Association of Potato Producers.
A month ago, Ukrainians were warned to stock up on potatoes, but the Association noted that the percentage of people who buy potatoes for the winter is decreasing every year.
“The younger generation does not see the expediency of storing large volumes of potatoes and prefers to buy the required amount in the supermarket. Therefore, the autumn procurement is not a decisive factor in the formation of potato prices. The market is influenced by autumn budget purchases for the year, which increase demand and price. It is about 100 thousand tonnes per year,”
– summarised Olga Samoilichenko.
It is not only potatoes that will cause problems with prices, as the weather in Ukraine promises a poor winter crop next year.
Author: Alyona Kaplina
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